In the manufacture of T-shirts, one of the labor-intensive and relatively costly operations has been that of attaching tubular sleeve sections to the sleeve openings in tubular shirt bodies. The process involves either inserting the sleeve section into the shirt body, through the sleeve opening, or applying the sleeve section over the exterior of the shirt body, effecting desired alignment of the respective edges of the sleeve and sleeve opening, and sewing the thus aligned elements. Attempts have been made in the past to introduce various degrees of automation to the sleeve installation process, but so far none has been altogether satisfactory.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and a procedure for substantially automating the sleeve attachment procedure, preferably employing a multi-station indexing turret mechanism which enables a single operator to sequentially load individual tubular shirt bodies onto a body form, and individual tubular sleeve sections onto special sleeve-loading cones. In a four-station turret system, the mechanism is indexed from the loading station to a sleeve installing station, where the sleeve-loading cones are manipulated to apply the individual sleeve sections to the shirt body. At this station, novel and advantageous mechanisms are provided for aligning the edges of the sleeve openings with a predetermined reference plane, and thereafter aligning the inner edges of the respective sleeve sections with respect to the same reference plane. In the next index position of the system, the aligned edges are sewn together, and this is accomplished advantageously by a sewing machine mounted in vertical orientation on a rotatable platform. The sewing machine is elevated to a position aligned with the before-mentioned reference plane and then advanced through a circular path by rotation of the sewing machine platform, in order to complete the attachment of sleeve section to shirt body. At the sewing station, the entire shirt body form, with the assembled and aligned sleeve sections, can be rotated through 180.degree., so that both sleeve sections are secured to the shirt body in successive sewing operation at the same station.
Following the sewing operation, the mechanism is indexed to bring the shirt body, with its now-attached sleeve sections, to an unloading station. At this station, the sleeve sections, which are oriented inside-out for sewing, are pulled out and reversed, and the completed shirt body is pulled off of the body form and placed on a stack of finished goods.
With the system and apparatus of the invention, the duties of the operator are limited to loading and approximate alignment of the shirt body on the body form, and loading of individual sleeve sections over special forms, referred to herein as sleeve cones. All of the remaining procedures, including application of the sleeve sections onto the body form, alignment of the edges of the sleeve openings and alignment of the corresponding edges of the sleeve, as well as subsequent sewing together of the aligned edges, are performed automatically and in rapid sequence. While these operations are going on, the operator is loading subsequent stations of the turret with a new body form, and reloading the sleeve cones with new sleeve sections. The system does not rely upon the operator to achieve accuracy of alignment, which is all accomplished quickly and automatically, utilizing novel mechanisms according to the invention.
For a more complete understanding of the above and other features and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and to the accompanying drawings.